Processes for the preparation of organopolysilanes have already been disclosed in, for example, W. H. Atwell and D. R. Weyenberg, J. Am. Chem. Sec. 90 (1968) 3438, in which organopoly-silanes have been prepared from dimethoxytetramethyldisilane However, this process only gives organopolysilanes of low chain length. U.S. Pat. No. Re. 31,447 (Baney et al., Dow Corning Corp.; published on Nov. 22, 1983) discloses a two-step process for preparing organopolysilanes containing SiOC-bonded methoxy groups. U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,046 (B. Pachaly, Wacker-Chemie GmbH; published on May 19, 1987) discloses a process for preparing organopoly-silanes in which the reaction mixture contains trimethoxydisilane, an alkali metal compound and at least one organosilane containing an Si-bonded hydrogen atom. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,904 (G. Burns, Dow Corning Corp.; published on Dec. 26, 1989) describes a process for preparing a methylpolysilane in which the reaction mixture contains alkoxy-functional disilanes and alkoxy-functional silanes having at least one unsaturated substituent.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a simple process for the preparation of organopolysilanes.